Daily Dose

Star House Gallery Kicks Off Second Season

Star House Gallery & Studio, a relatively new member of the Hudson Valley art scene located in the Kingston Shirt Factory, kicks off its second season of exhibitions this summer. The gallery, which doubles as a work and living space for artists, features abstract works by local and outsider artists.

This year’s season will include a number of exhibitions, artist talks, and parties, as well as a traveling show: “Witness: The Cedar Tavern Phone Booth Show.” The Cedar Tavern, a bygone Manhattan bar and restaurant, was the famous hangout of New York School artists, including Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, as well as a number of writers and musicians such as Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. Eighteen artists have used bits of wood from the final remnant of the bar—its phone booth—to create pieces based on the Cedar Tavern in its heyday.

The season will kick off on Saturday, July 19 with “Parallel Places,” an exhibition of works by local artists Owen Harvey and Michael Hunt. Harvey, a former adjunct instructor at SUNY New Paltz, paints the intersection of poetry, geometry, and art theory; his creates pieces of simple shapes and bold colors. Hunt, a self-taught artist who works and lives in Woodstock, works primarily with naturally felled, sandblasted redwood and draws inspiration from pop culture and folk art. The show will open with a party from 5 to 8pm and will run through August 9, when a closing party and artist talk with Owen Harvey will close the exhibit.

The Star House Gallery will be open Saturdays from 5-8pm during show dates, or by appointment at (814) 777-6990.